Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Remington 141

Long story:

I was at a friend's house the other day. He had bought a few rifles from friend of his, actually it was at his friend's estate sale. I looked the rifles over most were very nice old rifles - mostly made before 1940 and was dismayed when I saw his 141. It had a Remington scroll on the barrel similar to other Remington Rifles. It also had 444 Remington as the cartridge designation. The cartridge base on the action was a 444 cartridge base. The rifle looked semi-legit. Except of course the 141 was never chambered for the 444. Further the manufacture of the 141 stopped in 1950 and the 444 was released to public in 1964, I believe. I went home to look at my 141's. The Remington logo was in a different location, the cartridge designation was different.
The 444 produces ~ 44,000 PSI. the 30 Remington ~38,000 PSI and the 35 Remington 35,000 PSI Maximum while the 44-40 produced something like 13,700 PSI. The 444 has a much larger base than the other cartridges except the 44-40.

My friend was convinced that this was a legitimate rifle/cartridge. He had bought a box of factory Remington ammo and was going to shoot it. I believe I've convinced him to not do that. I think whoever did this work and sold this rifle is putting the buyer(s) in danger. But I wanted to ask this group their opinion.

The conversion looked professionally down. The bluing looks close to perfect. The person who did the work was no garage gunsmith.

What is, in your professional opinion, is the safety issue and your opinion of the gunsmith who would do this work and sell it to the public?

Thank you for your opinion.

Bugger

I know nothing about the 141 or the 444

However, the 44-40 has a SAAMI max pressure of 13,000cup/11,000psi

if i had it i would load it down to 30 rem. pressures.

Ed

are you sure it said 444 and not 44? the model 14 1/2 was made in 44 WCF and looks very similiar to the 141 but smaller. i would also think the given the loading gate, mag tube, lifter, etc of the 141, a 444 would never load. i suppose you could single shot it but you would be friggen crazy.

post pics

As you say, he 444 was designed in 1964 and no more 141s made after 1951 or so
It's not legit and I sure wouldnt pull the trigger on a 444 round.

Could it have been a 14 1/2 44 barrel with a 444 reamer run into the breech ?

I think it is a Remington 14 1/2 in .44WCF. It should be marked on the barrel as "Rem .44 or .44WCF".
On left side of the receiver is what looks to be a cartridge head. It will be marked Rem-UMC and 44 Rem.

You say it had "444 Remington as the cartridge designation".....There is no 444 Remington. There is a 444 Marlin.

Not a professional: I'm not sure about all this. The 141 is not the simplest action going. The rifles were specific for the rounds for which there were made. Mine is a 35 Remington. I not sure how one would go about loading a 444 round into the magazine of a 141. On the left side of the receiver is a round disk that looks like a cartridge head. The caliber of the gun is marked on this disk. The caliber is also on the barrel. Also this I'd suggest having a professional examine the rifle. This 444 business does not compute. I have my 141 in hand as it write.